Hello all,I'd like to recommend the documentary '12th and Delaware', I watched it recently at NARAL and it's a powerful and well crafted piece of documentary film-making from the same folks that…Continue

WASHINGTON – Abortion opponents fought passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul to the bitter end, and now that it's the law, they're using it to limit coverage by private insurers.An…Continue

No not Dustin Hoffman Straw Dogs, John Gray Straw Dogs, a philosophical book, an atheist criticising Humanism. Already a decade gone by, but IMO there a whole lot of paper wasted these days on books that teach us nothing new. I'd much prefer see fewer better books.

TNT666, Shock Doctrine is an important book. I am unfamiliar with Straw Dogs. Reviews reveal it's violence so I will pass on that one.
"The Little Ice Age" sounds like exactly what I like to read. Thanks.
Thanks.

I'm sorry Joan, I don't. The last books I thought were mildly interesting was Shock Doctrine and Straw Dogs. Right now I'm reading "The Little Ice Age". I used to have a website where I kept track of all my readings, but that website died, as so many other of the best websites through the years.

Non fiction political stuff, though in the past couple of years I read less paper and more online. I tend to fall asleep when I read paper these days, it's uncontrollable. But I looked further at that resume, and she really does seem obsessed with reducing suffering and death, I was always a little less concerned with these than most people, but as I age, I find myself less and less concerned with this. The concept of "reducing suffering" in this vague general philosophical sense makes no sense. Suffering and happiness are only measured in regards to each other. So as one reduces suffering at one end, the brain simply reformats the suffering relative to the good stuff, it's why studies on "happiness" consistently demonstrate more happiness in poor countries where we westerners think there is more suffering. Conversely the rates of suicide are much higher in countries with higher wealth. The constant quest for less suffering is bound for failure, and books about the topic are so over-abundant it is mind-numbing.

The more I hear/read such commentary, the less I value the preciousness of life. Suffering and loss of life are the very definition of life. If this quote reflects the entire book I'm certainly not interested in reading.

"One of the legal judgments echoed the book: “life is of value only as a vehicle of consciousness”.

"My original motives for writing this book were the interest of the questions involved and my own lack of any clear and defensible answers... One of its aims is to persuade people to change opinions which they already hold. This is because some of the views criticized here cause much unnecessary misery, while others lead to loss of life that could and should be avoided. The conventional view that philosophical discussions are quite remote from having any practical upshot, such as prevention of suffering or loss of life, has very little to be said for it."

No matter where a woman lives, she has a right to access to competent health care, family planning and the right to make decisions about her body and her family. Every child born needs care and love and not all mothers are able to provide these. Not every unplanned or unwanted pregnancy results in successful placement in a loving home. To place women in the judgment box is absurd; without even a mention of the men who impregnate them is barbaric.

"I'm hoping that we're coming to a point where we can just be more honest, where we can lay things on the table and have those discussions. Because this is what I feel about abortion care: I think abortion is about motherhood. Abortion is about motherhood because by and large women coming in to have abortions are concerned about the kind of life and the future for their children. Women are thinking in a very responsible manner when choosing that. The anti-choice groups often portray women as irresponsible and making these whimsical decisions. But in truth these are very well thought out decisions women are making. They're taking responsibility for their lives and the lives of their future families."